Friday, December 21, 2012

Let me start by telling you last night was no fun at all. Wednesday night and well in to Thursday we had one big snow storm dropping 11.8 inches of snow, if that was not bad enough 52 thousand people lost there electricity sending the temperature in my house down to 54 degrees and I was not prepared some folks here in Iowa will not have power until Sunday. I have about 10 to 15 oil lamps as that is one of the things I enjoy collecting and not a one had oil or wicks in them as I had removed them 3 years ago when we move to Iowa. Now for the big one I had no back up heat and the temperatures were going to go down in the single digits, I can't tell you how grateful that I have heat once again. So today I got my ducks in a row with the folks at Highland Park Ace Hardware store where I was able to buy a portable propane heater and the wicks and oil I need for my lamps it truly was a lesson learned.

I have a great interview with Jennifer Ess of “Rainy Day Food Storage” for you today. We only talked for about 25 minutes but the ideas and tips and simple formulas are great. With this information you can turn all those huge cans of long term storage food into meal size ready to go recipes.

Jennifer joins us today to discuss why creating meals in a jar makes sense for busy people. The self life of these meals. The easy way to make these meals shelf stable. A simple formula for creating your own recipes and how you guys can free sauce mixes and jar meal recipes from Jennifer.

I have also been getting a ton of “I am just starting out” or “I have just found your podcast” emails lately. Such emails always go on to say “I am overwhelmed and don’t know where to start” in the next sentence. It is totally understandable.

I have been trying to figure out where to fit in a new “getting started” episode and this is a great opportunity. First Jennifer’s method of breaking down long term storage foods will make that far less intimidating for many people. Additionally the very basic of “eat what you store and store what you eat” is a great way to get the ball rolling.

So I am leading off today with a short segment (about 25-30 minutes) on getting started and then we switch over to Jennifer and take this simple approach to a bit of a higher level with pre planned meals in a jar. Oh and ladies, they really are pretty too. I think I said pretty more times in this episode then all others episodes of TSP combine, um that would be two.

In
a medium pot - mix the coconut oil, olive oil, dried comfrey, &
dried calendula. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 20
minutes. Strain the herbs from the oil using a cheesecloth or coffee
filter. Discard of the herbs.Wipe
any remaining herbs from the pot you used, and add the oil back to
the pot. Turn the heat to medium. Stir in the honey (if using) until
completely combined. Then, add in the beeswax - stirring until
completely melted. Mix in the lavender essential oil, if using.Pour
the mixture into your jars. Stir it occasionally while it cools to
ensure even settling. Seal once set.

Combine
ingredients except for the yeast, in a one quart jar. add the baggie
of onions and the yeast to the top of the mix and close the jar.
vacuum seal and store the mix in a cool, dry place.

To
Make

follow
your bread machines instructions... add the Jar Mix, yeast and onions
to 1 and 1/8 Cups of Water (105 to 110 degrees F) along with 1
tablespoon of vegetable oil... I put my machine on the dough cycle
and when it is done I cut and shape them into rolls I get about 12
rolls out of this jar mix.

I
let the rolls rise again and then brush the tops with butter and bake
at 350 for about 20 t0 25 mins. Until golden brown...

If
you do not have a bread machine or are using this jar mix in a
emergency situation use traditional instructions.